Life Hacks: Edit Your Wardrobe

Holly Horning ’83 is an image and branding consultant and coach.

ACCORDING TO CLOSET DESIGNERS, MOST OF US WEAR JUST 20 percent of the items in our closet. Even worse? That crammed closet may be keeping you from wearing the things you actually love. Horning recommends a “wardrobe edit” to cut the clutter—and build a closet full of clothes that make you look and feel your best.

BIG-TIME PURGE. For a first-time clothes clearing, ditch 40 to 50 percent of the items in your closet.

NO ROOM FOR REGRETS. “Don’t keep things that constantly torment you because they’re a size too small for you,” says Horning. “We call them ‘guilt garments.’ Even if you’re losing weight, anything that doesn’t currently fit you needs to go.”

SEEK VERSATILITY. Keep clothes that you can wear in at least three combinations.

DON’T SAVE CLOTHES FOR THE MEMORIES THEY REPRESENT. “Many of us love to hang onto clothes that have great memories attached to them: what we were wearing when we got the promotion or were on an amazing vacation. The clothing you keep has to fit your current lifestyle.”